


Cannoli and French Toast

by ncruuk



Series: Station 19 Stories [4]
Category: Station 19 (TV)
Genre: F/F, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:48:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29442885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ncruuk/pseuds/ncruuk
Summary: It's Valentine's Day and Maya's having another go at winning the unofficial Grey-Sloan 'romance war' after her uncontested Christmas victory when a Cap and two puppies saw Carina float onto 'Cloud 19'.Thing is, to make her plan work, she needs a little bit of help from a friend or two...and those friends might be also trying to help make sure the Captain and her Doctor don't forget this particular Valentine's Day....or the fact that the Station Captain is very much alive.[This will make limited sense if you haven't read my other stories in the series as it is a continuation of the same timeline.  If you are reading 'E i cuccioli ne fanno cinque'  in 'real time' as I update it, BE WARNED - THIS FIC HAS A COUPLE OF SPOILERS IN IT.
Relationships: Maya Bishop/Carina DeLuca
Series: Station 19 Stories [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100498
Comments: 28
Kudos: 94





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [englishstrawbie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/englishstrawbie/gifts).



> This is entirely @englishstrawbie's fault, because she managed to turn me trying to persuade her to write Valentine's Day fluff into me writing it instead.
> 
> Hopefully this is enjoyable right now as the main elements it relies on have already been posted in the other stories....and it will make even more sense as 'E i cuccioli ne fanno cinque' catches up (for context - that story is, at time of posting, at January 2nd, while this story is, obviously, set on February 14th).
> 
> Either way, happy Valentine's Day for those of you that way inclined....and for everyone else, enjoy Maya and Carina fluff (no really, I PROMISE this time it's fluffy fluff...and a lot of jokes about their sex life)

“Just tell me…” said Maya, buttoning her shirt slowly, concentrating on keeping her breathing nice and steady, still finding breathing without worrying about pain something of a novelty. “...please?” she added after a split second, a voice that sounded a lot like Carina’s echoing in her mind, making her slightly smile as she pictured her girlfriend.

“On three?” suggested Teddy, looking at Link, both trying not to grin in case Maya looked up.

“Huh?” Confused, Maya did indeed look up to see the two surgeons who had spent the last forty-five minutes thoroughly prodding and poking her, as well as asking all manner of questions and pouring over scans she’d spent a good chunk of the morning having done.

“Three…” said Link, before he and Teddy said together, “...you’re all good...” and let their grins finally break free.

“I’m…” Maya slumped back against the raised head of the bed, looking genuinely shocked. “...you’re not…”

“Messing with you? Absolutely not,” said Teddy, understanding that this was rather massive news. “Although we’re talking about normal human levels of ‘good’ remember?”

“I know, but…” She looked towards the air boot and sling she’d arrived wearing, and which were still on the side, she’d presumed waiting for her to put back on.

“You can leave the boot here as long as you keep your ankle elevated and iced like you’ve been doing, and do  _ not  _ do anything more than you have been doing, which is?” prompted Link, knowing of all her injuries and recoveries, her ankle was the most challenging for her and so he had been extra conservative, and would continue to be extremely conservative for a little while longer.

“Ten minutes slow walking, and walking means no more than 90 steps per minute,” recited Maya, smiling at him - she’d liked the fact he didn’t think it was weird she thought in stride cadences when it came to judging her own speed. “Five minutes standing with no joint flexion, twenty minutes total weight bearing between elevation.” She pulled out her phone and showed him the screen. “I’ve got a timer set up for when I get up to do things in the apartment, and the guys at Headquarters made this for me.” She put her hand in her jacket pocket and pulled out a very small box. “It goes on my shin and connects to my phone.”

“What’s it do?” asked Link, looking at the small box in bemused curiosity.

“It’s like a PASS alarm for my foot.”

“A what now?”

“On our kit, it’s an alarm that goes off if it fails to detect us moving...it’s got a quieter sound that only the wearer hears, and a really loud one to help rescue find you...right now it’s a box on our air tank belt but there’s a project at headquarters looking at smart fabric sensors...so they made me this, and some socks.”

“I was wondering about the odd socks,” said Teddy, having started noticing Maya was wearing odd socks these last couple of weeks when she’d seen her with her foot elevated and therefore able to take a break from the air boot. While she’d not actively considered Maya’s sock choices before she’d been injured, seeing her wearing odd socks had struck the surgeon as atypical to what she’d come to expect from her otherwise very orderly and tidy friend.

“They put some of the sensor fabric on the inside of the sock and the loop on the front of the sock is where this cable goes…” Maya pulled out a little cable from the box that was about the same size as a key fob. “...there’s thread or something passing the signal from the sensor to the loop and the cable gets it to the thing in there which is connected by bluetooth to my phone and tells it stuff.” She shrugged. “No idea how it all works, but if there’s continuous pressure on my foot for four minutes, my phone goes off.” She reached into her other jacket pocket and pulled out a precut strip of the sort of tape Teddy and Link both recognised as being what they stuck dressings on with. Pulling up her pant leg, she stuck the little sensor box onto her shin and connected the cable to the loop. Taking out her phone, she unlocked it and opened the app to check it had connected. Satisfied, she pulled down her pant leg and pulled her leg up so it was bent at the knee and her foot was flat on the floor. “If everything works, and I don’t move my foot for four minutes you’ll hear my phone go.”

“That’s very cool…” said Link, impressed, realising it also explained why he’d been so pleased with her progress - she’d not been kidding around when she said she was following his rehab instructions to the letter. “...I will see you about the ankle again in two weeks and if it’s still looking good we’ll talk about upping the loading, but you can double down on all your stretches and exercises now.” He laughed when he saw her grin - she was the only patient he could remember who was excited by stretches and exercises workloads being increased. “And I’ll let Carina know she can really dig her fingers in now.” His laughter increased when her face nearly split in two as her grin grew again - that was also an atypical patient reaction, as normally they winced when he mentioned it.

“Excuse me?” Teddy looked at him, then at Maya, not quite believing what she’d just heard.

“Massage Teddy…” sighed Maya, rolling her eyes at her friend. “...she’s been following a massage therapy plan Link got from his friend at the Mariners that they use for their guys to help with the scar tissue and to recover from sprains.”

“I knew that...so, moving up...thigh is great, we can stop talking about that one from my perspective,” said Teddy, knowing Maya still had to do a lot of rehab on it to get it back to proper strength and muscle mass, but surgically, the bullet wound trauma had healed beautifully.

“So I can just use it? I mean, no extra rules especially for it?”

“No extra rules especially for it,” confirmed Teddy, not normally agreeing that ‘just use it’ was an acceptable recovery strategy, but given it was between Maya’s ankle and abdomen, both of which were still restricting her overall movement, her thigh was not something she needed to focus on. “Just let it do its thing for a bit. It’s healed really well, looks like the muscle is starting to build up nicely on the scans.

“Yeah, it’s…” Maya ran her hand down her thigh, able to feel the slightly tender spot where the bullet had hit her still, but it was getting less every day. “...not something I think about too much now.”

“Good, and all the scars will continue to fade, especially if you keep going with the cream.” Teddy chuckled when she saw Maya’s slight pinking, and rephrased. “Especially if Carina keeps going with the cream...something else she can dig her fingers into,” she teased, quickly stepping back from Maya’s flicking left foot which very nearly made light contact with her elbow, her turn to laugh. “Nervous system’s on point I see...right, moving on up…” 

They’d fallen into the habit, during the check-ups right from the very first ones after the original surgery, with Teddy leading whichever of her colleagues were joining in that particular check-up on a journey that was either ‘top down’ or ‘bottom up’ depending on what was clinically the more significant, as by the end of the early ones, Maya’s head was usually spinning. At about week three, as her collarbone and ribs started to really make progress, they’d switched from ‘top-down’ to ‘bottom-up’ as their collective focus switched to her ankle.

“...I’ll have another look at everything else in two weeks…” She saw Maya’s smile fade a touch, so continued quickly, “...to see if you’re good for increased weight work, but today you get the all clear for twisting, turning, bending and stretching in any direction you like…” She nearly laughed at how happy Maya looked. “...but still no lifting anything heavier than around 5lbs, so no hose drills or sweeping Carina literally off her feet yet.”

“I promise not to do any hose drills or lift anything heavier than around 5lbs,” repeated Maya, the seriousness of her promise somewhat undermined by the size of her grin. 

“Good. And your kidney’s a lot better, looking as disturbingly healthy as your other one in fact…” Teddy looked up from Maya’s chart, which she’d had to look at to double check her recollection of a couple of results. “...so in moderation, because I am a responsible health professional, you may drink whatever you like now.”

“Cool. I believe I owe you a drinking session or three.”

“I’d like that…” agreed Teddy, turning to Link. “...no pressure, just the collarbone to go…” she teased, knowing he had more good news for Maya.

“No more sling.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” confirmed Link, not sure he’d ever seen a patient almost vibrating with excitement at being told their collarbone was sufficiently healed that a sling was no longer necessary. “I’d give you the lecture about no heavy lifting but you’ve had all that from Teddy. I’ll check it over again in two weeks since I’m already seeing you for your ankle, but it’s now like your thigh - you can forget about it really and just start using it.” Again, it wasn’t advice he’d usually give, but it was no longer a limiting factor for Maya’s overall recovery - if she was following Teddy’s instructions for her abdomen and ribs, he was happy her collarbone and shoulder would look after itself. “And again, I’ll let Carina know she can really dig in if she wants to….speaking of, where is she?”

“Budget review with Bailey,” said Maya, taking her phone out of her pocket when it started to beep and pointing to her foot. “That’s what the box thing does.” She then silenced the alarm as she moved her foot, the app resetting itself automatically.

“That’s very, very cool,” decided Link, wondering if there was an opportunity to start some research with them or something, but he’d worry about that later. “Budgets...on a Sunday morning?”

“Yeah, Bailey moved it for me…” mumbled Maya, checking her sneaker laces were tied nice and tightly before she carefully lowered her legs from the bed, ready to stand up and walk out of the treatment room without the boot. “...once Teddy said you we could do this this morning and not Thursday.”

“Why?”

“Men!” sighed Teddy, shaking her head at his obliviousness. “Tell me you’ve remembered to buy Amelia Scout’s bodyweight in those chocolates you apparently do rather well…”

“Chocolates? Why would I…oh. Shit.”

“You forgot Valentine’s Day then…” pointed out Teddy somewhat redundantly as she watched Maya steady herself on her feet, adjusting to not having the boot on her right foot before she stood up fully straight, without the support of the bed behind her.

“He’s got time to fix it…” said Maya, taking her phone and sending two texts she’d already written while waiting for Teddy and Link to come back from checking her scans and stuff. “...you know the bookstore by the museum?”

“The one with all the foreign language books in the window? Never been in.”

“Don’t need to, the store next door...they don’t close til 8 and have Italian chocolates. Expensive but worth it.”

“Really?” He was looking on his phone at the map. “Wait, is this another of your super-secret how to win at romance tips you never share?”

“How many boxes have you bought Carina in the last six weeks?” teased Teddy, taking mental notes to look up this store later - a woman could never have too much knowledge about where to get the really great chocolate.

“Only one, and I haven’t given it to her yet.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“Because there’s one thing you have not yet told her I can do…” said Maya, looking somewhat pitiful.

“You’re withholding good chocolate until I tell Carina you’re ok to have sex?” asked Teddy, making Link choke.

“That’s not good chocolate,” corrected Maya, guessing from where Link’s eyebrows had got to he was seeing some of the prices, “...that’s neon pink on an MRI scan chocolate...” She paused, prompting Link to look up. “...and the thank you shows up pretty bright too... at least, it would for Amelia, not sure how it will go for you.” He opened his mouth, only for Teddy to cut across him.

“Don’t even think about telling us tomorrow, Amelia will tell it far better than you.” 

Maya cleared her throat pointedly, attracting Teddy’s attention - now sex was the topic of conversation she was more interested in her and Carina’s sex life than anyone else’s so hadn’t been listening to Teddy teasing Link….especially as she had not yet had the medical ‘go ahead’ for such activities. Asking Teddy each check up had become such a reflex she didn’t even need to ask the question. 

“...and yes, I will make a particular point of making sure Carina knows you’re cleared for sex.” 

Maya’s phone made its message alert sound, and she looked to see what it was, the significance of what Teddy had just said not really registering given how casually she’d said it. “Oh, cool, Bailey’s letting her escape back to her office, wait, did you just say....” Maya looked up in slow-motion, her lip caught in her teeth with nerves but that didn’t stop her grin as the significance of Teddy’s nodding head hit home.

“I still don’t get…” began Link, putting his phone away now his own Valentine’s Day plan was saved, and returning to the original reason they’d been talking about it in the first place. “...how making Carina do her budget review with Bailey early and at the same time as we see you has anything to do with Valentine’s Day…”

“What is it with men and not getting romance?” wondered Teddy, helping Maya put her coat on to save her wasting unnecessary shoulder energy while reminding the firefighter that, unlike when she arrived, she could just stick her right arm down the sleeve and wear the coat normally. This also, noted Link belatedly, was another clue Carina didn’t know Maya was in the hospital, as Maya would otherwise have left her coat in her girlfriend’s office. 

“He doesn’t know?”

“Nope, only way to stop Amelia spoiling it, you know what she’s like...”

Teddy had been confused at first, when Maya had asked her if her idea was possible to be made into a plan, but then Teddy remembered a conversation they’d had - her, Maya, Carina, Amelia, Andy and Miranda, in the hour or so while they were waiting on New Year’s Eve for the press conference to be set up, when, needing a distraction to stop Maya panicking about the can of worms she was about to open, they’d started guessing some of the ‘silly’ questions Maya and Teddy might be asked, coming up for suggestions they would, or more likely wouldn’t get away with giving. Finally though, needing to calm things down a bit so Maya didn’t get totally exhausted, Carina had quietly asked Maya what her ‘proper’ answer was if she was asked what the first thing she’d do when she’d recovered was. “...you know we’re all going to hate you when you win at Valentine’s Day as well as Christmas right?”

“Yeah…” Maya’s phone went again, and she read that text, smiling, then checked the time and her smile slipped a bit. “...but she loves me, and she’s the one that counts. And in my defence, I did have to get eight bullet wounds, three broken bones and ankle surgery first and Valentine’s Day is a bonus.”

“That’s just showing off…” teased Teddy, pulling her friend into a gentle, but not as gentle as it had been previously, hug. “...we’re so proud of you.”

“Thanks…” Maya gave Teddy a careful squeeze, delighted when she didn’t feel anything protest, then let go. “...you mind if I go now? I’m kinda on a deadline and I’m not supposed to rush or there’s a lot of doctors who get mad, and some of them are scary,” she joked once she was steady on her feet again, enjoying being able to use her right arm for things like hugging her friend.

“Go! And if I decided to review my imaginary patient on the OBGYN ward in...say twenty minutes?” she teased back, wanting to see Carina’s reaction when she saw Maya.

“Bailey would tell you off for being five minutes late, last time I saw her she was promising she’d set up a group text to make sure you don’t miss it I think.” It had felt more like a threat at the time, given how nervous Maya was, but she knew it wasn’t.

As she waited for the elevator, her mind automatically cataloguing all the bits and pieces of information she’d just received about her recovery, ready to update Chief Sato when she saw him on Wednesday afternoon, it suddenly hit her.

Carina was right, the endocrine system was predictable…


	2. Chapter 2

“Mas!” Hearing his sister’s call, Mason turned around slowly, scanning the busier main entrance lobby of Grey Sloan until he spotted his sister.

“Hi...wow…” He stopped a few steps in front of her, oblivious to being slightly in the way of passing visitors to the hospital and just looked at her.

“You’re in the way…” chided Maya with good humour, encouraging him to get out of the way of everyone. “...and you’ve seen me wear jeans and sneakers before.”

“Sneaker. I’ve seen you wearing jeans and  _ a single  _ sneaker before. No boot? That’s awesome May…”

“Yeah, I’m not allowed to do anything more than I already was doing, but now get to do it without the boot.”

“Feels good?”

“Feels really good,” agreed Maya, unable to stop herself from grinning. “Did they have them?”

“Oh, yes…” He lifted up the canvas farmer’s market bag he’d been carefully carrying in one hand and put it on her lap. “...box inside...wait, no sling too?” he asked, noticing she reached into the bag with both hands to peek inside the box.

“And my kidney’s back to normal too. Thanks, those look perfect”

“Good thing I got you a coffee too then.” He held out the cardboard tray he was holding with the coffee shop’s branded reusable take out cups sitting in it. “And there’s a bag of beans in the bag too.” He looked a little sheepish. “Impulse buy.” He’d not been a fan of coffee until he’d tried Carina’s ‘proper coffee’ with the beans she liked and bought from the coffee shop by the Fire Department Headquarters whenever she was passing and had time to sit and enjoy a cannolo, as they ground them especially to order. “I was hoping she might make me a pot when she gets in later?”

“You planning an all nighter?” asked Maya, slightly concerned about his desire for a large volume of caffeine late in the day as she put the bag on the seat next to her, having taken out the box of cannoli when he mentioned buying the coffee beans and kept that in her lap.

“Umm, it was supposed to be a surprise…” He saw her eyebrow raise, knowing that she didn’t do so well with surprises. “...you know how you think your team’s started a 24 hour shift this morning?”

“Mmm…” Her eyes narrowed, becoming suspicious.

“They might be only working 12 hours, then coming down here and we’re going to do the base coat tonight. Chief Sato fixed it...it was Andy’s idea, and Dr Bailey agreed, so the lobby’s gonna be closed so we can have a go with all the rope stuff too.” He rubbed the back of his head, a nervousness giveaway. “...umm, I mean getting the wall’s base layer on is great and all, but the real surprise was supposed to be you got the apartment to yourselves for the night…like date night which sounds really cheesy, but, well...it struck me, that day...in December...you both went to work from the apartment that was just the two of you...and, then...you came home two weeks later and it wasn’t you two, it was...well, you know and me...and it’s Valentine’s Day...” He was bright red by the time he’d finished speaking, feeling rather self-conscious talking about how he’d noticed a degree of gritted teeth type restraint in Maya and Carina’s affection with each other at the apartment in the last couple of weeks. “...and I know I’ve been in the way a bit, like a third wheel when you’re used to having the place to yourselves...”

“That’s an amazing surprise Mas, I'm so glad you are starting with the first paint so soon…” said Maya genuinely, standing up and, taking care not to drop the box, giving him a one-armed hug, with her right arm. “...and thank you...umm...but what do you mean about third wheel?”

“Umm, you and Carina? Being stiff with like this gap between you? And sit down, don’t waste your ankle on me!” 

“Oohh…” She coloured, realising he’d picked up on her and Carina’s intense frustration, sitting down as he had a very good point about her ankle. “...we were trying not to be so obvious...and you absolutely had nothing to do with it, and are certainly not a third wheel.”

“It wasn’t?”

“No, I wasn’t allowed by Teddy because of everything…” She saw him squint at her, like he didn’t quite believe her. “...you only noticed the last couple of weeks because I was healed enough to be annoyed when Carina, umm, had to start remembering for me…” 

Maya abandoned her ‘perfect timing’ plan, wanting to untangle whatever was confusing him, even if it meant having to go into a little more detail than he might be comfortable hearing his sister tell him about her sex life. She was certain she was blushing, but there was also a weird happy joy about being embarrassed explaining her lack of sex life to her little brother - it was one of those moments she’d long ago thought would never happen, and she’d gladly take the short term embarrassment from the inevitable teasing as that was further proof he really was here. 

“...before, when you thought we were…” She suddenly realised she’d actually assumed she knew what he meant, and since things were confused enough. “...just checking, you thought we weren’t kissing and hugging as much lately because you were a ‘third wheel’ so you’re extra glad you made a plan for us to have ‘date night’ when you  _ thought  _ we were having sex to give us the night to ourselves, so we could go back to how things were without you in the way?”

He nodded.

“Oh Mas…” Ok, at least she’d got that bit right. “What you saw when I came home from here was, well, just us being us, sex hadn’t really come into it.” 

From how he was blushing, they’d clearly not quite got their estimation as to how good the sound proofing was between their bedroom and his was (the one Andy used was across the hall, whereas his one shared a wall, but not the wall the bed was against). 

“Ah, so you heard, umm, so... I could, umm, give, and managed to convince Carina not to feel guilty that she couldn’t, umm, reciprocate beyond a certain point because of how broken things were in me…” Now she was probably matching him in pinkness, because while she was accustomed to a fairly open book sex life thanks to their combined group of friends’ sense of humour, she was still getting used to her little brother not being thirteen and embarrassed by his voice breaking. And needed to tell Carina he’d heard her...

She really, really hoped she wasn’t going to have to explain how women could enjoy arousal and intimacy without an orgasm in a way that didn’t really happen for men to him, as that was definitely not something she was prepared to try without either alcohol or Carina’s help, and preferably both. But she also knew there was no point in not being honest with him - he did make a good point in a rather round about way - at least when Andy had moved in, she already had some understanding of how physically affectionate Carina and Maya were in private even when they were just making a meal together, but Mason had no experience of uninjured Maya and Carina’s relationship, only very injured Maya and Carina’s relationship.

“What you noticed was, and you’re right, there was a sort of careful space between us, but it definitely had nothing to do with you and everything to do with the fact that I wasn’t so broken and…” 

Maya shrugged, not necessarily too concerned with him knowing the whole story, but the main lobby of Grey Sloan late on a Sunday morning was not the time or place to explain that the real issue was one night when they’d got a little too enthusiastic about Maya being able to once more cope with Carina lying more on top of her than not, which had been torture until then. Not only was that how Carina naturally gravitated to her girlfriend in her sleep when she did her ‘limpet’ impression, but it was one of their favourite ways of enjoying gentle, slow loving intimacy and out of almost nowhere Maya had very nearly gone straight through the ‘certain point’, with Carina stopping things at what to Maya felt like the last second before she exploded, and not in the sexy fun way, but in the Carina having to watch her best GYN surgical resident helpTeddy and Miranda give Maya an emergency hysterectomy.

Carina had been sufficiently worried that she’d actually switched straight into doctor mode and given Maya a quick check up, which had not only killed the mood but made her decide that enough was enough, and if Maya mustn’t, she  _ shouldn’t  _ and therefore Maya  _ couldn’t _ make love to her until Carina could reciprocate fully...which quickly became torture for them both, and the careful distance between them when they were watching a movie or making dinner together had been a necessary precaution.

“...once my ribs and shoulder and ankle weren’t hurting as much, it became harder for me to remember that I still had quite a few muscles and things in my abdomen that were nearer broken than healed and since I’m the idiot and Carina’s Carina…” 

Given how the conversation about ‘crowning’ had gone when she’d been still in hospital, there was no way Maya was attempting to explain how important it was for the inside layers of the uterus to stay on the inside, and therefore how what she’d just thought was a slight graze to the middle layer, like a slightly too deep cut that needed a stitch to help it heal had actually been quite a lot more serious. “...more details than that and you need Carina in her office with her weird little models…”

She gave his shoulders, which her right arm was still wrapped around in a loose, one armed hug, another squeeze, hoping he was a little less anxious, understanding it was inevitable given how much life had changed, for all of them, but she felt it was greatest for him….he of course, disagreed and said her injuries were way tougher than him adjusting to being part of a home and family. And Carina? She was just thankful she had Maya still….after that anything else, including him even when he left the toilet seat up, was a joyful bonus.

“Those are really freaky right? Especially the one with the baby?”

“Really freaky,” agreed Maya, able to ignore them now but completely understanding his reaction. “Amelia used one as a hat stand for my uniform cap….which is unfortunately about the one piece of uniform I’m not having replaced because there’s no way I can wear it now without…” 

They laughed as they both shuddered in unison, giving him the confidence to return to their main topic.

“So after the weird yelp in the middle of the night and loud crash because one of you knocked over the lamp…” Her nod confirmed he’d picked the right moment for their panic when they’d had to change the rules, and not in the fun way. “...she decided you couldn’t be trusted and it became no contact below the waist?” he teased, returning her one armed hug with one of his own, starting to see how he’d got confused. “..oh, and nice right arm hugging sis.”

“Waist? More like shoulder…” grumbled Maya, missing the compliment.

“So if it was because you couldn’t because of, umm, Teddy not letting you and not me being in the way…” he mumbled, trying to lighten the topic, preferring not to dwell on the deeper significance of how far they’d come that he was nipping into the downtown shops to do the odd errand for her to help her spoil her girlfriend who he already was thinking of as another sister. “...your big Valentine’s Day plan...”

“Really was me just walking unaided and carrying the coffee myself...asking you to get her favourite coffee and the best cannolo in the City really was just a backup in case I wasn’t able to walk. If I’d had more faith I’d have got two cups from the cart outside.” She thought for a moment. “Depending how busy Carina’s day was when she got in, I’d got as far as being prepared to persuade you to go and get takeaway for all of us so she didn’t have to cook, but apart from that…I do have some flowers to pick up on the way home, but again, I was kind of hoping to use you as my gopher.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, no frenetic sex marathons...why…” She looked at him, then groaned, starting to see what  _ could _ have happened. “Who said what about Carina and me and who do I need to stick on bathrooms and floors until the end of the year?”

“How…”

“Did I just guess? Because they’re my friends and I’m their Captain...so I know them far too well because they’re my friends and expect to be the target of most of their jokes because I’m Captain, and since I know all in their own way flirt with Carina and honestly? All of them except Travis and Ben would have a try if they were single and she wasn’t my girlfriend, not that I’m judging because I so would be too…” She glanced sideways at him, waiting.

“You got me, in those circumstances so would I…and I can’t believe I just said that..”

“Says the guy who tells my girlfriend he thinks she’s a fifteen…” Maya laughed, surprising him. “Yeah, that’s allowed. Anyway...the few jokes that wouldn’t be about my sex life for the first two reasons probably would get around to my sex life at some point for the third one.”

“Oh. So you’re not mad?”

“Course not. Look, why don’t you start at the beginning Mas…what did my friends get us tangled up in?”

“It could just be me....so...about a month ago, yeah, you’d been home a couple of days? I asked Andy if she knew if you were into Valentine’s Day”

“Let me guess, she told you I’d always worked it?” Maya tried to keep the surprise out of her voice - he’d been ahead of her with his planning, then again, he was a Bishop....

“Yeah, which didn’t really help me know if I should be making a plan to give you some space to have a big romantic dinner at the apartment or something, since you feeling up to restaurants and stuff seemed rather a stretch...that was before I began to wonder if I was..”

“Third wheel?”

“Yeah….about a week later, the day after that Prize thing was announced, Andy asked me if I had thought anymore about my Valentine’s Day plan because they’d got their shifts since, and did I know it was a Sunday night? As they were working she had an idea that could help, well, with me wanting to give you guys some space and getting a start on the wall with the first base layer of paint.”

“And she talked to Bailey and everything was set up?” guessed Maya, not yet seeing how he’d done anything other than be really sweet and thoughtful, while Andy had just been, well, Andy and found a solution with a bit of inventive thinking, helped with the rather fortunate timing of the Prize announcement and their good fortune that Valentine’s Day was a Sunday. The Station could request being taken off standby to go and work on their prize winning scheme, which in this case was helping Mason paint his wall, for up to half a shift in the ‘quiet’ part of the week, and at 19, their only ‘quiet’ part according to the callout stats was the the ‘night’ part of the 24 hour shift that started on a Sunday morning.

“Yeah...last week she asked me how I was doing and I said I was really pleased I could give you guys some space because you had this amazing plan to surprise Carina that I was helping you with here, and Carina was working but only a little bit so you’d have a really long evening and night to yourselves... and that’s when she told me Travis had worked it out the week before.”

“Worked what out?”

“That’s what I wondered, because I’d not said anything about the extra space between you, and she thought I was better than you at bluffing, then told me Travis had come back into the Station after spending a shift doing Aid Car with Ben…” 

He still didn’t really know what that meant, having not spent any time at the Station yet, but was at least now much more familiar and comfortable around all the A shift firefighters as they’d dropped in to say hi to Maya when she’d been still in hospital, then they’d taken to coming to say hi to him when they were dropping patients off and he was in the other lobby working on his mural design and plan. 

“...and declared that by his calculations ‘the Captain’s showing off, and gone and got the ‘Captain is alive’ sex date’ scheduled for Valentine’s Day...but, I mean I knew when Carina had said it originally that you hadn’t, well…”

“Had ‘Captain is alive’ sex?” Maya could tell he didn’t yet really associate her with the ‘Captain’ the team talked about, so tried to stick to talking about herself in the third person too, even if it was very weird for her, because it seemed a little bit easier for him...and since talking about the team talking about her non-existent sex life was making this already super-weird, she’d take any help going.

“Well yeah, because I’d been not sleeping right next to Carina not sleeping next to you the first two days, then the second surgery and...umm...yeah, knew there was no way you had...I mean we were only just getting round to ‘Captain is alive’ sleeping, you included...and no, that’s not a threesome reference...” 

He could joke about it a bit more easily now, but Maya knew she would never truly know how hard it had been for him and Carina, Carina especially given the lack of relationship Maya and Mason had had prior to the shooting. Still, she did smile at his threesome comment which made him happy, not realising it was mostly because she was mentally grabbing another moment where he unconsciously showed how he was integrating into their group, this time by picking up on the ‘in-joke-that-wouldn’t-die’ with Amelia. 

“That’s so got to be told at Scout’s 18th birthday or something….anyways... it hadn’t occurred to me that you still hadn’t, or rather couldn’t have ‘Captain is alive’ sex, which was why I’d thought they were just making me feel better...do you know when...”

“When I’m going to kill Andy and Travis? Not yet…”

“Oh, no, I meant when you and, well, umm, sex.” 

It genuinely hadn’t occurred to him that it had been something other than his presence in the apartment, but now he was realising that Maya’s careful Valentine’s Day plan had been entirely centred around the hope that she’d be able to follow through on her immediate answer to the question ‘what do you want to do when you’re cleared by Teddy to move again’….but he also realised he was still guilty of making assumptions about how recovered she was….or wasn’t yet.

“Oh. So as it happens, Teddy cleared me just now.” 

The alarm Mason had set on his phone to make sure he got his sister up to the OBGYN floor on time went, prompting him to stand up and take the box of cannoli from her lap - as much as he wanted to unmuddle things with her help, they could do that later...right now, she’d put too much effort into this special moment for Carina and he wasn’t going to let her make a mess of it. “Ah, I’m going to carry them for you until the elevator doors open on her floor, then it’s all you.”

“Thanks….” Now she had her arms free, she stood up carefully and pulled him into a tight hug. “...you’re never a third wheel Mas.” After a bonus squeeze that made him laugh, because it was genuinely years and years since he’d had a squeezy hug from her, and the last time was probably when they were almost the same height, whereas now she fitted under his chin, she let go. “Yes, I know, I’m short and you’re a giant. Who are the other two coffees for?”

“Oh, right, must take those off you when we switch. Dr Bailey and me...mine’s the orange one, it’s their hot chocolate.”

“The Sicilian one Carina got you keen on?” 

Maya had tried to appreciate the unique style of chocolate her girlfriend’s home was famous for, but its slightly gritty texture, which made it so beloved by chocolate aficionados, had fallen foul of Maya’s memory of those infernal powdered energy drinks of her teenage years, and she’d not even been able to try it, though she did agree it made fantastic hot chocolate and there was a large bag of it in the kitchen cupboard that she occasionally made herself a cup from...if Carina and Mason hadn’t finished it all off first. With those two in the apartment, it was a good job she didn’t have a sweet tooth otherwise there’d be no room in the cupboards for anything savoury, or at least, that was how it felt like sometimes...and she loved it.

“And how did Bailey get coffee?”

“She’s a skilled negotiator…” he joked, stepping back so people could leave the elevator before they got in, keeping a close eye to make sure no one bumped his sister. “...and had to move a surgery forward an hour so she could make the meeting start early enough that Carina had to leave so you had enough time to get in without her suspecting.”

“Don’t worry…” said Maya, getting in the elevator and hitting the button for Carina’s floor, “...we’re all a little bit scared of Bailey.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Dr DeLuca?”

“Si…” Carina paused mid step, trying not to sigh at the latest interruption to what should have been a fairly quiet walk from Bailey’s office back to her own via the ward to check everything was as it should be. So far she’d had three patient charts, usually perfectly clearly filled out by her good Resident, needing reviewing because their handwriting had gone just enough wonky that there was doubt in everyone’s mind about what the dosage ordered was. And that was just between the elevator and the ladies washroom. And now she hadn’t even got to the nurse’s station.

“Oh, sorry Dr DeLuca, here…” Seeing her boss was still carrying her papers from her Budget Review meeting with Dr Bailey, the OBGYN Chief Nurse, who for some reason Carina couldn’t fathom was working the early Sunday morning shift, cleared a surface on the top of the counter for her to put everything down.

“Grazie.” Carina took the opportunity to shake her hands to restore the circulation to her fingers, the binders growing heavy after her protracted walk. “You wanted me for something?”

“No Doctor.” The Chief Nurse managed to maintain her impressively neutral expression for another two seconds, just long enough for Carina’s eyes to narrow and a glare to begin to form, when the nurse’s face broke into a broad grin and nodded to someone or something behind Carina. “But I think the Captain does.”

“Captain?” Confused, Carina turned around and... “Ahie!” She slumped back against the nurse’s station counter, genuinely breathless from the unexpected, joyous surprise. 

There, by the elevator, was Maya, wearing jeans and sneakers, walking towards her, carrying a plain white box that had a cardboard tray sitting on top of it, two cups of coffee sitting in it. It was, to anyone who would happen on this moment not knowing them or anything about them, seem a dramatic overreaction to something that seemed so ordinary and mundane, as a blonde woman wearing light blue jeans and a red-blue checked shirt under a reddish-orange jacket walked fairly slowly down the corridor...except she was doing exactly what she’d said on New Year’s Eve she wanted to be the first thing she did as soon as she was able to. There was just one snag - in Maya’s plan the corridor wasn’t suddenly full of familiar faces from Grey-Sloan and Station 19, all seemingly ‘in’ on this moment. 

But Carina was oblivious to them all, as she watched, her hands clasped together in front of her face, her whole body frozen by the delightful surprise of seeing Maya  _ walking  _ towards her down the corridor, without an air boot, carrying a box of...wait, Carina’s eyes, which had been raking their way up her girlfriend’s body, taking in the absence of air boot and the lack of any sort of limp, moving past the box that was obstructing most of her girlfriend’s torso, backtracked fast to the the box….the box that Maya was holding with both hands.

No air boot.

No sling.

Carina blinked back the tears and kept going on her visual inspection of her approaching girlfriend who was now only slightly more than an arm’s length away and was grinning that impish smile that Carina associated with the easy moments that were her only warning before a relaxed, happy Maya pulled back into bed or persuaded her into the shower, or, and this was her favourite moment it appeared if she was really truthful with herself, when Maya broke away from her mid kiss to say something silly or flirtatious. It was the smile of  _ her  _ Maya, the Maya that only she got to see, the Maya she wasn’t sharing with the duties of Captain, or her worries about whatever was going on with the team or Mason, or what she was going to rush off to do next….it was the smile of Maya who was completely present, totally focussed and it was a Maya Carina didn’t have to share with anyone...and no one else had access to...because, whether she said the words with that particular smile on her face or not, Carina knew...that smile was Maya’s love for her...and that Maya? That was Carina’s favourite.

“Bella? What’s…”

“I was going to try and pretend I’d decided to just surprise you to a Valentine’s Day coffee after your meeting and see if you noticed, but the audience…” Maya, unlike Carina, had been all too aware of how many of their friends had suddenly found the time to hang out on the OBGYN floor - it felt like she was back at the Academy graduating, having to walk down the centre of the seats, worried about knocking her hat off or tripping over her own feet, only she wasn’t wearing a hat and her feet were….actually a genuine trip hazard if she didn’t stay focused on walking to Carina. 

“Mamma mia…” Carina risked a quick glance and saw their grinning friends before focusing back on Maya, though at least her brain noted, she didn’t need to worry about being the only doctor around if one of her patients decided to code.

“...kind of gives it away that this is, well, a bit more than that.” Maya carefully came to a stop by Carina and put the box and coffees on the counter, next to Carina’s meeting papers, enabling Carina to have an unobstructed study of her from shoelace to shoulder. “Plan A was me, the coffee and cannoli are the back up.”

“Cannoli?” Carina’s eyes darted towards the white box, her brain still not fully comprehending what was happening. “As in…”

“As in multiple proper Sicilian sized cannolo made fresh less than half an hour ago and filled with proper fresh ricotta and pistachios…”

“Bella…” Carina’s mouth was watering at the thoughtful treat, though her brain was also restarting. “...what do you mean plan ‘B’, and where is the boot and the sling…?” She didn’t want to voice her fear, that Maya had risked all her hard work and careful commitment for a beautiful romantic gesture. Either that or debating budgets with Bailey had made her hallucinate.

“That’s why Bailey moved your budget meeting to this morning…”

“Eh? Bailey is ‘in’ on this plan of yours?”

“So I knew you wouldn’t find out that I was downstairs with Teddy and Link having the appointment you think is Wednesday...no more boot or sling…” Maya moved forward with a couple of small shuffles, reaching out to slip her hands inside her girlfriend’s white coat and catch hold of her hips, drawing their bodies closer.

“Si? No joking?” It wasn’t that Carina didn’t trust Maya’s word, it was that she so desperately, desperately wanted this moment to be real that she’d not let herself even think about the appointment she thought was on Wednesday for fear of getting her hopes up and having to then manage her disappointment alongside Maya’s.

“Ask Teddy if you don’t believe me…” whispered Maya, leaning in and kissing Carina’s neck, realising there was an advantage to their friends being shameless gossips with a limited grasp of boundaries and overdeveloped competitive streaks, who had already forgotten that hospitals were traditionally supposed to be conducive to rest and recuperation and had started clapping and cheering, knowing how significant this milestone in Maya’s recovery was for the couple - at least she could easily co-opt reinforcements to convince Carina they weren’t hallucinating or dreaming, and based on the noise they’d not have to send an email or text to let people know she’d cleared a major recovery milestone.

“Mmm…” Carina’s protest was token at best as Maya worked her way up her neck to her jaw, starting to believe, if only because Maya’s kisses were never this good in her dreams. “...va bene? Your foot?” 

“My everything is bene…” murmured Maya as she turned left at Carina’s ear and worked her way along Carina’s jaw, her lips smiling against her girlfriend’s skin as she felt Carina’s fingers catch hold of her belt and shirt...it wasn’t quite the same as the feeling of her undoing Maya’s uniform belt and shift when they made out at the Station, but it was close enough that her body remembered what to do with such perfect clarity her brain stopped thinking about anything and everything except leaning into Carina’s wonderfully familiar, amazing body. “...I love you so much…”

“Ti amo…” Now she’d managed to close the gap between their bodies both above and below waist and shoulder, understanding what 'everything' meant in this context, Carina moved her hands to Maya’s face, drawing their mouths together. “...baciami bella…” 

  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


“How…”

“Did I get the fresh cannolo?” guessed Maya when a mixture of oxygen and awareness that, if they didn’t stop, they would be interrupted by Maya’s ankle’s clever sock alarm as Carina called it, they’d put just enough space between them for Maya to flex her ankle and take a couple of small steps so she was able to lean against the counter. “And you’re such an Italian…” Carina’s predictability at zeroing in on Italian food was something that Maya was certain would rival the department’s sniffer dogs given half a chance.

“Si!” laughed Carina, kissing Maya’s nose, crinkled by her giant grin at her ability to predict her girlfriend’s predictability. “You have not…”

“Brought you old cannolo? Never!” teased Maya, snatching a final quick kiss as she sensed their friends gathering around them as those on the peripheral of the circle remembered they were probably supposed to go fight a fire or save a life. Maya then confused Carina after she’d snatched another kiss by moving until she felt Maya’s arm wrap around her hips...her  _ right  _ arm that no longer needed to protect still healing ribs and collarbone, which Carina could now lean into without worrying at the faintest of contact.

“Then how…”

“I was already there, waiting for Maya’s text when she got the verdict from Teddy,” admitted Mason, his grin almost identical to his sister’s one, having heard Maya’s response as he gave them a quick hug, not wanting to monopolise them given how many of their friends had just ‘happened’ to find their way to OBGYN at the right time.

“I got one too…” said Bailey, stepping in and giving Maya a brief hug and kiss on the cheek, “...I’m so proud of you,” she whispered, patting her on the back and then moving to hug Carina too, “...and I’m so proud of you as well,” she added quietly, not surprised that Carina wasn’t letting go of Maya, nor was Maya prepared to let go of the doctor.

“That was you?” asked Carina, after she’d returned Bailey’s hug with her free arm and straightened up again, Maya shifting into her side again when she’d stopped moving. “Sending the text that stopped her mid sentence?”

“Yeah...Bailey was in on it from the start...but I think the budget sign off is real right?”

“Very real,” confirmed Bailey, smiling at Carina.

“How long have you been planning this?” asked Carina, deciding Teddy was most likely to crack under her stare. “And how did you keep it a secret?”

“The secret part was easy,” said Bailey, sipping her coffee that Mason had passed her, looking around for her target...who was stood next to Teddy with Andy Herrera. “...we just didn’t tell Amelia.”

“Hey!” Amelia tried to protest, but confronted with knowing looks from Maya, Carina, Teddy, Bailey, Mason, Andrew and Andy, she had to admit defeat, though she did elbow Teddy, earning another level of eyebrow raise from her and Bailey. “What? I used my elbow…”

“Yes, but for what? Because otherwise it’s random violence.”

“Making Link lie to me,” said Amelia, like it was obvious.

“Oh, Link didn’t lie to you Shepard,” said Bailey, taking a sip of her coffee ‘fee’ for playing her part in this, “...we didn’t tell him either until yesterday.”

“About a month,” said Teddy, coming forward to give Maya a brief hug while Carina processed that piece of information, then she wrapped Carina into a proper hug, taking care not to pull her friend off balance as she wasn’t expecting Maya to move away. “And…” she whispered, giving Carina a tight hug, knowing how difficult it had been for her to cope with everything that had been thrown at her and Maya these last couple of months, “... _ everything _ is perfect…”

“Si?” Carina’s head pulled back just enough to be able to see Teddy wasn’t joking, tears of relief forming in her eyes at the final, ‘official’ confirmation that Maya was genuinely without her boot and sling with the total support of Teddy and all the other doctors who had contributed to getting Maya to this point.

“I believe I’m also supposed to tell you that, and I hope you know the significance of this because I was told I had to be very specific…” Teddy leaned forwards and took great care to speak quietly so only Carina heard, passing on the message that Andy had told her to say only moments earlier when she’d, carefully and without prying, merely observed to Teddy that if Maya was  _ completely _ cleared for  _ all _ types of movement, then she might like to mention.... “... your Captain’s cleared for sex and is definitely alive.”

* * *

“Is DeLuca blushing?” asked Bailey.

“Andrew? All the time.”

“Not that DeLuca.”

“Wow...I didn’t think that was possible…” said Amelia, turning her head in case it was an optical illusion as a result of some sort of reflected light or shadow as Teddy let go of Carina. “...and that’s an affirmative on the blushing. Andy…” She reached out and grabbed the Lieutenant by the arm, pulling her with impressive strength towards them. “...why’s Carina blushing?”

“Hmm?” Andy tried to play dumb. “Carina blushing? Really?” She looked at Amelia with a puzzled expression on her face. “Is that even possible?”

“Anyone tell you you’re a really bad liar?” 

“Frequently,” agreed Andy, smiling innocently at the neurosurgeon. “And I’ve got a call…”

“No you haven’t, Ben told me in the Pit when you dropped off your last customer he volunteered to do a gas run so you could say hi to her, so ..spill...or do I need to ask Mason?” laughed Amelia, putting her arm around Andy’s shoulders, seeing Bailey had headed towards Teddy, presumably to try and work the other end of the mystery. 

“Ask me what?”

“What Teddy said about Maya and sex to make Carina blush. It’s got to be something good...”

“What makes you say that? And why not ask Teddy?” 

_ He could do a poker face, he could do a poker face…. _

“Because, Baby Bishop, you’re a soft squishy jelly bean to her brazil nut…” 

_ He really, really couldn’t do a poker face….  _

“...and this is Carina ‘Dr Orgasm’ DeLuca who doesn’t blush!”

“Ah, umm…”

“You are a cruel, cruel woman Amelia Shepherd…” declared Carina, her cheeks still a little pink but spotting Mason’s bright red ones and having a pretty good idea what was now happening. “...picking on my fratellino when he brought you a cannolo.”

“I did?”

“He did?” 

Maya blinked in surprise, not remembering that being part of the plan, only to rather belatedly cotton on to what her girlfriend had been trying to do, slightly caught off guard by Amelia being so close to the truth with her guess about what Teddy must have whispered to Carina. She had genuinely only been hoping to get rid of the sling and boot today - not expecting Teddy to say yes to being able to have sex, and was only really comprehending what their evening plans now were, thanks in part to the innocent meddling somehow by her team and Mason. 

She’d been asking the question about whether sex, or rather, specifically her being able to have an orgasm was permitted yet as an automatic reflex at every appointment she’d had since she’d been discharged from hospital with the strict instruction that she  _ couldn’t  _ have sex...which of course had naturally then been all she could think about, not helped when she was the one everyone teased for taking ‘Dr Orgasm’ off the list of eligible Grey Sloan ‘bachelors’ and said doctor had been having to focus instead on making sure she didn’t have an orgasm yet this  _ year _ ...until now….no, no, not now...later, very, very much later when they were at home and it could be slow and quiet and not having Amelia prodding her.

“Hey!”

“You really do go squishy like the rest of us...Nice try Bishop with the pastries…I know you’re just trying to distract me.” Grinning despite her words, Amelia took her turn hugging them both, though being Amelia she just wrapped them both up in a big hug at the same time and made them both laugh by doing a little cheer and saying she’d finally got her ‘threesome’....

* * *

  
  


“We really did it?” asked Bailey, appearing beside Teddy while Amelia was distracted.

“We really did,” agreed Teddy, sharing a knowing smile with Miranda, knowing how nervous they’d both been in the last few days in case Maya’s ‘plan A’ wasn’t going to be a medically possible reality. “Just like she said she wanted to - surprise Carina with coffee at work that she’d carried herself while walking unaided...and on Valentine’s Day.”

“You did good Teddy.”

“Not as good as they did…”

“Why  _ is  _ DeLuca blushing?”

“Umm, I cleared her for  _ everything.” _

“Everything everything? Did you...”

“Get Addison Montgomery logged on and looking at this morning’s scan that she talked me through doing? Yes, and she’s satisfied with how the perimetrium and myometrium have healed.”

“So it’s an everything everything  _ everything _ ?”

“Yup…”

“That’s what made DeLuca blush? Because you’re talking about her girlfriend’s va-jay-jay? Seriously?” Bailey found that impossible to believe.

“No…” Teddy leaned down and whispered in Bailey’s ear what Andy had told her to say to Carina, then straightened up again. “... _ that  _ is what made her blush.”

Interestingly, that also seemed to make Miranda Bailey squeak….

* * *

  
  


“Fine, where’s DeLuces…” Amelia turned around, finding her next target, Carina’s actual younger brother. “You didn’t buy any sinfully good Italian pastries this morning to distract me did you?”

“Nope.”

“Good, it’s confusing now there are two of you ‘little brothers’ to keep track of, but I’ll get there. So, since you’re the right one...maybe you can tell me what made your sister blush?”

“Why are you so interested? It’s probably something really boring…” tried Andrew, though he did at least have the genuine advantage over Mason of not knowing or being able to guess what Teddy could have said.

“This is the woman who doesn’t blush when talking about masturbation, threesomes or lunchtime sex and has the nickname Dr Orgasm for God’s sake.”

“You have a point...Carina? Cosa ti ha detto?” The advantage of being both Carina’s younger brother and speaking a language that not many Americans spoke, was he didn’t need to be subtle in how he asked her. “Amelia pensa che abbia qualcosa a che fare con la tua vita sessuale?”

“Mmm?” Carina hadn’t been paying that much attention, having been, at Maya’s encouragement because her stomach was ‘singing’, started to investigate the box of pastries while Andy took her turn hugging Maya, but she thought she’d just heard her brother ask her something about her sex life. “Scusa Andrea?”

“Teddy, cosa ti ha detto?”

“Ah, si…” Knowing that they were never going to keep Amelia from knowing, and given it seemed everyone already knew somehow, given what Teddy had said, Carina didn’t bother looking up from the box of cannoli as she answered him, “...lei disse che il mio Capitano è autorizzato al sesso ed è decisamente vivo...” and was rather satisfied when she heard him cough in surprise at her answer.

Ignoring her friends’ demands for a translation, and seeing there were some napkins in the box, Carina put two of them carefully on the top of her budget files, then taking two cannoli from the box and putting them on the napkins, paused and added a third cannolo, then she folded over the top of the napkins to make a little parcel of cannoli for her and Maya to share in her office, leaving the rest in the box for the lucky few ‘vultures’ of their friends and her colleagues to steal. 

  
  
“Grazie Mason, I will see you at home later, are you waiting for Maya?” She picked up her files as Maya picked up the tray of coffees. 

“Yeah, I’ll be…”

“...with your wall, si, you are learning its secrets like a new lover would.” 

She smiled when he looked bashful, but it was accurate - he had been learning about plaster textures and paint finishes and experimenting what happened to perspective on curves...just as you learn about the nuances your new lover...and she thought it was wonderful to see how he came alive with his project, and he understood that the more she loved the more she teased...and it was a completely alien sort of love if you were brought up as a Bishop...but he was loving it and learning to give as good as he got.

“Sounds like we’re double dating then…” He laughed when his sister’s face matched her jacket. “...take your time May, and text me - no need for you to detour back to me, I’ll come find you.”

“Thanks Mas…”

And, with Maya’s right arm still firmly around Carina, they set off the short distance up the corridor to Carina’s office, hearing Teddy declare, “ok, now that’s a DeLuca blushing,” in Andrew’s direction before their friends burst into laughter, clearly eventually giving in with the translation demand, making them both smile at how happy their ‘family’ was, not minding that they were the source of their good spirits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cosa ti ha detto? - What did she say to you?  
> “Amelia pensa che abbia qualcosa a che fare con la tua vita sessuale?” - Amelia thinks it has something to do with your sex life?  
> ...lei disse che il mio Capitano è autorizzato al sesso ed è decisamente vivo... - she said my Captain's cleared to have sex now and definitely alive...


	4. Chapter 4

“You ok?” asked Maya after they’d made it to Carina’s office, the cannoli, coffee and budget files were safely on Carina’s desk and the door was firmly shut.

“Si…” Carina stood leaning against the closed office door, just looking at Maya, who had decided not to push her luck with her ankle, and so carefully shimmied back so she was sitting on Carina’s desk, her feet dangling. “...you pushed…”

“Calf raise and just a little nudge with my arms then I wiggled…” promised Maya, not even needing to stretch the truth. “...Teddy’s allowing me to lift 5lbs max, same as before…” She smiled as she saw Carina automatically have to start converting into her more familiar kilograms. “...small newborn baby weight. She’s keeping me under your new mama curve remember?” 

To say that Teddy had been feeling the pressure as a ‘mere’ ex-head of Trauma Surgery and current co-head of Cardiothoracic Surgery when it came to overseeing Maya’s recovery from the bullet wounds to her abdomen given Carina’s specialism was something of an understatement, even with Addison Montgomery reviewing all the scans for them to keep an eye on that fourth bullet wound. It had been a favour quickly called in by Amelia when Carina’s anxiety finally surfaced, but Teddy’s nerves hadn’t gone away, though it had taken her asking the OBGYN Chief Nurse for the week by week newborn weight chart page for Carina to notice her friend’s anxiety. Still, it had been a sensible idea by Teddy, with patients who had C-sections being sent home with the instruction to ‘never lift anything heavier than your baby’ for the first 6-8 weeks after the caesarean, with Maya’s surgery having a similar degree of disturbance to the muscles, albeit with a lot more trauma. 

Turns out though, that when Carina had actually stopped to look at what the average weight of a full term newborn baby was over the first six weeks of its life, she’d been horrified at the idea of Maya lifting that much weight, and was now starting to also understand the patten she’d not been able to spot previously about how her patients did or didn’t manage with their C-section recovery. A solution had come from an unlikely source in the shape of the owner of the foster dog that was helping the puppies learn appropriate dog etiquette and the like, who spontaneously shared what the puppies’ week-by-week growth chart was looking like from the vet, thinking that Carina as an OBGYN would find it interesting...as did Teddy, who promptly put Maya on a recovery curve that would see her comfortably able to lift the puppies individually when they went to collect them from their foster home at the end of February, but not both.

“But we are getting puppies not babies…” teased Carina, knowing neither one of them was feeling the maternal urge - the apartment was going to be quite full enough with two puppies joining Mason and them. “...and you are on the puppy curve.”

“Puppy fat curve more like…” mumbled Maya, giving her stomach a prod just by her tummy button, which she was now very aware was actually nowhere near her ‘stomach’ thanks to how many MRIs and x-rays she’d seen of herself in the last few weeks, somehow never making the connection before that.

“Tonight is the first night you can sleep on the couch bella…” reminded Carina pointedly, deciding that as much as she liked admiring Maya from this distance, up close had a lot of advantages.

“You wouldn’t…” Nevertheless, Maya did take Carina’s well made point and sat up straight again, proving that while her abs may not be as tight as they’d been previously, and there was a little bit of a soft curve where once it had been firm and flat, she could be hardly described as having ‘fat’. “...sorry, it was supposed to be funnier…” She’d been about to try and explain ‘puppy fat’ and how she’d been aiming for a pun but couldn’t be bothered, not when she could thread her right hand through Carina’s hair and wrap her right leg around her girlfriend’ hip...two movements she’d become much better at with her left hand side limbs these last few weeks, but still. “I know I’m just squishy.” 

‘Squishy’ was Carina’s new favourite word in English, finding it one of the few words that was more satisfying to say in English than anything she could translate it into in Italian. She was also finding it a rather useful word for her patients, which added to its attraction, and meant she’d be using it long after Maya had ‘de-squished’ herself when she was given permission by Teddy and Link to start working on going from ‘recovered from surgery’ to ‘firefighter’ levels of fitness.

“Si, and I like you squishy…” said Carina, giving said ‘squishiness’ a playful stroke as she ran her hands up Maya’s chest and over her shoulders, feeling the slight bump in her right collarbone that she knew would fade over time. “...and I will like you de-squished also…how did they know?”

“How did who know what?” asked Maya, struggling to follow the change of conversation topic with Carina running her fingers through Maya’s hair like that, especially when she combined it with just the right amount of light pressure with her fingertips.

“That now we are able to do what everyone else has done long ago and at some point enjoy our own ‘Captain is alive’ sex...only Andy and Mason were there when I…”

“ _ That’s _ what Teddy said to you?”

“Si. Did you not…”

“...tell her about that? No, I’d forgotten about it until Mas mentioned it downstairs...but I think…” Maya thought back, trying to remember… “Andy was stood next to her, I saw them together as I was walking down the corridor...she must have said something.”

“Ah, wait, Mason mentioned it also?.”

“Yeah, when we met up downstairs after he arrived with the coffee and our other surprise.”

“Ma-ya…what else did you do?”

“Me? Not me. This one’s on Mason…” She managed to coax Carina into a far too brief kiss, her girlfriend’s suspicion reducing the effectiveness of that as a distraction technique. “...and Bailey and Andy. Mostly Bailey and Andy, and the Chief...yeah, Bailey and Chief Sato, with a nudge from Mason.”

“Bella…your words are walking the countryside again.” Carina knew the word was ‘rambling’, but she preferred her version, and since she only had need of the word ‘rambling’ when Maya was nervous, her version was much better as it made Maya smile.

“Mason’s coming home with me now for naptime…” Maya had managed to accept that listening to her body’s need for a rest during the day rather than fighting through it was not the end of civilisation but rather a means by which she could enjoy time with Carina when she got home from her shifts. “...because Bailey’s given him the lobby from 8 and Chief Sato’s organised split-shift cover so the team can test the roping plan Andy’s done and help him do the first base coat.”

“8 tonight? As in…” Carina’s eyes went wide as she gave Maya a meaningful look.

“As in at 8pm tonight, he, A shift and I suspect a lot of our friends here, will be doing Tarzan impressions in the other entrance lobby while you and I have the apartment all to ourselves…on Valentine’s Day which happens to be the first time we can  _ both _ appreciate the wonder that is natural oxytocin since...”

“Forty-eight days and…” She glanced past Maya to the clock on the wall, counting back. “... five no...four and three quarter hours ago….ish.” At Maya’s eyebrow, Carina definitely blushed very, very red. “I did not mean to say that out loud.”

“You were counting?”

“Mmm...at first it was...the last time I saw you before the ER, then it became the last time we…” Carina was tantalisingly close to kissing Maya again when her brain remembered something and, rather than continuing into the kiss, she dropped her head onto Maya’s healed collarbone with a slightly indelicate thump. “...mamma mia…”

“What?” Maya was torn - on the one hand she wasn’t very happy that something was making Carina bump her forehead against her shoulder that she’d stopped worrying about hurting, but on the other hand she was rather pleased her collarbone was withstanding being treated like a trampoline because Carina had stopped worrying about it. “Carina, what’s wrong?” 

“Today is Valentine’s Day…”

“Yes…” 

Maya wasn’t expecting Carina to have done anything, being of the opinion that these last few weeks had seen her go to lengths that warranted elevation to sainthood, so the least Maya could do was plan on Valentine’s Day being a moment for her to lavish her girlfriend with all the surprises, rather than expect or want anything in return. But she knew better than to second guess her in these sorts of moments.

“...which is the 14th.”

“Traditionally, yes…” That Carina stuck her tongue out suggested this wasn’t an insurmountable crisis they were going to have to deal with, especially when the angle of her head meant she concluded the tongue sticking out process with a lazy, sexily sloppy kiss to the underedge of Maya’s jaw that had her girlfriend making that wonderfully quiet almost growling sort of moaning noise that almost made Carina forget about her medical degrees and declare her reproductive system could do gymnastics. But she did, after a moment, get her mind back on some sort of track.

“So tomorrow is the 15th.”

“And a Monday,” added Maya helpfully, thinking pointing out the convention of calendars was for 15 to generally follow 14 rather than numbers lining up at random, chuckling which was another newly regained, pain-free activity which had been very exciting at the time, but wasn’t as exciting as sex with Carina...and thinking about calendars was very necessary if their ‘dry spell’ was to last until this evening. Sure, Carina’s office was private enough and had plenty of potential, but nothing like as much potential as their apartment...all to themselves...calendars...concentrate...

“Si, and three weeks ago I agreed with Andy that because Bailey has tomorrow off and A shift end their shift at 8 o’clock and then have three days off, I would give the French Toast cooking lesson tomorrow morning I had promised at Christmas… I do not want Bailey thinking you need to have your head MRIed again…” 

She didn’t mind the teasing, and knew it was all in the very kindest of good humour, but despite her dependency on MRI scans for her research, she personally never wanted to have to watch Maya go into an MRI machine ever again ideally, though she’d start small and just wish for several injury free years for the moment.

“...and Bailey being off makes it good because…” Dots were connecting at speed for Maya. “Oh. Bailey being off makes it super easy for you and the others.” 

The ‘others’ in this context were Amelia and Teddy. Which now meant that tomorrow’s cooking lesson, which Carina had thought would just be a usual boisterous gathering of their friends, was now going to be the usual boisterous gathering of their friends the day after Valentine’s Day which everyone seemed to have decided was the day ‘Captain is alive’ sex was finally on the permitted activity list for said Captain.

“Si, because we are normally in a meeting with Bailey and today is Sunday so our Services are quiet and it then does not matter that we do not lead the morning rounds on Monday…it is a coincidence maybe? Or did Mason...” Carina was definitely not blaming Mason in any way for enabling their friends to create the perfect opportunity to ‘celebrate’ the first time Maya returned to the Station, but she wasn’t above being annoyed with any doctor or firefighter that had manipulated the situation and his...newness in their group.

“Mas didn’t know, it’s an accident.”

“He was in the room when I said it.”

“No, I mean yes he knew about ‘Captain is alive sex’, he just didn’t know until know that until today everyone except the Captain who’s alive and you were the only two people at the Station  _ not  _ to have had been able to have ‘Captain is alive’ sex yet.”

“But he made this plan for us to have the apartment…”

“He’d...didn’t know, when I came home, that I wasn’t allowed to...you know.”

“You can say orgasm Maya…” teased Carina, properly snuggling into her girlfriend’s body for the first time in 48, no 49 days, letting out a happy hum of contentment when she felt Maya’s arms wrap around her.

“Fine…” She knew she was being teased, but she didn’t care, not with Carina in her arms like this, making her happy noise and tracing aimless patterns on her chest with lazy fingertips. “...he didn’t know that due to our friendly bullet number four I was under strict instructions that my uterus was on the equivalent of bed rest so no orgasms for me...but that despite my injuries you’re too impossibly sexy and hot for me to not want to make love to you and give you lots and lots and lots of orgasms and be the highlight of my day, so he’d not actually thought about our sex life one way or another except that we had one because you’re not as quiet…” No, that was not the way to tell Carina Mason had heard her climaxing at some point…Maya was not that much of an idiot... “...I mean the apartment isn’t as well soundproofed between our bedroom and his….agree so far?”

“Si, and it was the highlight of my day mio amore...and we will revisit the sound proofing another day but before he has a girlfriend si?”

“Oh god yes....where was..oh, yeah, right, so...being an irritatingly observant sort at times, my wonderfully easily muddled little brother noticed a couple of weeks back how we weren’t quite so physical with each other when we were around him and things were a little quieter I guess...it hadn’t occurred to him that there might be a medical reason we were...frustrated and he thought he was in the way, so his plan that he’d made to just give us a chance to...have an evening back before, like it was at Christmas without injuries and little brothers thinking they were a third wheel, became a plan he’d made to be out of the apartment on Valentine’s Day so we could... deal with a lot of sexual tension I guess.”

“Ah, capisco…” Carina now understood how Mason’s thoughts had unfolded. “...he is a sweet boy, and not a...third wheel?”

“Someone we are tolerating but would rather wasn’t there…” Maya felt Carina shift against her. “...sshh, we talked, he didn’t mean in everything, just...like how Scout has a playdate with Alison at Teddy’s so Amelia and Link get to have ‘date night’ sometimes?”

“Ah, si…” Carina relaxed against Maya again, knowing that most of Amelia and Link’s date nights, while they might include sex, were always remembered by Amelia for the jokes Link made during the film they watched, or the way she tried to cheat at the boardgame they played. “...he wanted us to have date night for Valentine’s Day?”

“Yeah….and then he was educated about our sex life by Andy telling him about Travis telling everyone at the station he’d worked out Valentine’s Day was when we could have sex again….”

“That was Ben.”

“Ben?” That was the last name Maya would have guessed, so Carina’s sudden confidence surprised her. “How do you figure that?”

“Travis has been on Aid Car lots with Ben, I see them in the Pit sometimes...and your injuries made him have questions about his injuries that Andrea said he’d helped Ben answer. I…” Carina frowned, wondering why she hadn’t said anything to Maya at the time. “...ah, si, I did not mention it to you because I assumed it was maybe flashbacks? Difficult memories for him that I did not want to pry into or make you worry about. And it was only a couple of times I think...plus he never said anything and Ben did not seem concerned when I asked him to think if that was an issue.”

“Which means…” Maya felt a lot of tiny details come together. “...no one set us up and we brought this on ourselves...” groaned Maya, realising that there was no great conspiracy, just people who knew them well and cared about them had all grabbed small elements of a bigger picture. “...and are…”

“...never going to hear the end of French Toast jokes? Si...continue your story bella per favore.”

Maya moved her arm to a new position, still wrapped around Carina’s shoulders but one that meant she could stroke her neck, adding the occasional gentle scratch at the base of her skull, watching through heavy-lidded eyes as she managed to find all the spots that made Carina hum with happiness while Maya thought aloud.

“After my two week check, just about a month ago, you had to rush to an emergency surgery and she and I had lunch...that’s when I had this idea that I might be able to target today for getting rid of my boot and sling, only it was a Sunday. But she said she’d set it up so if I was good and recovered as she hoped I would, everything was set up for this Valentine’s Day surprise, but she’d need Bailey’s help to get you in without getting suspicious.”

“She managed that…” agreed Carina, genuinely surprised when she’d seen Maya at the end of the ward, having believed she was having a normal quiet Sunday.

“And Bailey knows from Ben I’d not been back to the Station yet....” She’d not been avoiding the Station exactly, but it had been easier to never quite make it when Andy or Vic or any of them suggested she’d be welcome.

“But you promised you’d come with me when I did the French Toast lesson…” said Carina, seeing the pieces of the puzzle Maya had already put together. “Because I understood you did not want to go to the Station without a purpose or on your own in case you were there when the alarms went...and thinking you had your check with Teddy on Wednesday because you had the ultrasound for Addison on Tuesday...I agreed to Monday when Miranda asked me. I was going to tell you this evening so you did not have time to over-think. Oh...did you...”

“...have the ultrasound? Yeah, Teddy did it with Addison on a video link. It was...strange, but between them they were very thorough.”

“Bene.”

“You agreed to the French Toast lesson before you were told about the budget meeting…”

“Si, it was a couple of weeks ago when she said the shifts came out for A shift and she told me Ben was working Valentines and so she wanted to take the Monday off to surprise him? And would I do the good French Toast lesson instead of not having the staff meeting…and I did not think then that would also mean Teddy and Amelia….mamma mia...” Carina went back to lightly headbutting Maya’s collarbone again.

“Hey…” Maya tested out her new permission to twist and turn and in between ‘bumps’ swerved away from Carina’s head so she was catching her head with her right upper arm instead of her shoulder. “...what was the first headbutting for if this one’s for your cooking lesson encouraging new French Toast jokes rather than ending them for good? And getting teased as much as I will be if Teddy and Amelia are there as well as the team?”

“I said I would meet them at the Station at 8.30…” Carina looked up, confused as to why Maya wasn’t quite where she expected her to be. “...you moved?”

“If you’re going to spend the day headbutting things, Link would probably prefer you use my left collarbone…not to mention we’ll have more fun later...”

“Scusa!” Carina immediately zeroed in on Maya’s right collarbone, though rather than headbutting it she kissed it, somewhere along the line having managed to undo the next button on Maya’s shirt so she could part the neck of the shirt enough to kiss her way along still sensitive skin, making Maya shiver under her lips in a way that had nothing to do with room temperature. “I…”

“You forgot already, which is perfect…” assured Maya, catching Carina’s face with her hand and coaxing her so she was once more snuggling into Maya’s chest, only now she was using Maya’s left side to lean against. already automatically curling into her body, her head resting against Maya’s left shoulder, Carina’s cheek against her uninjured collarbone. “...and time is relative.”

“Eh?” Carina was trailing aimless circles on Maya’s ‘squishy’ stomach, both enjoying these last two weeks or so when they’d not had to worry about remembering where incisions and dressings were or what muscles Maya could and couldn’t get to move without pain (orgasms notwithstanding), and instead just ‘be’ together, relaxed and close like this.

“8.30...how early or late it is depends on when we go to bed…”

“Ah.” Carina tilted her head back, finding the ability to once more be surrounded by Maya’s strength almost intoxicating after having to resist for all these weeks. 

Despite her girlfriend’s reservations about her ‘squishy’ bits and loss of muscle, that was in comparison against the superfit ‘firefighter-Olympian’ curve, and she was even now, after just over seven weeks of post-surgery recovery, still probably slightly above the ‘average’ person’s body’s strength and muscle tone. And as much as Carina loved her girlfriend like she was in her ‘peak’ physical condition that she needed to be for active duty, and was absolutely looking forward to those casual, private displays of strength again when Maya could pick her up and kiss her until their lungs were exploding and Carina didn’t notice her legs were like jelly because they were wrapped around Maya’s hips, or put annoying little boys who didn’t understand go away in their place by using their ego against them in silly little contests like push-ups...what Carina really loved, more than anything, was the heart and personality tucked inside and underneath that strength….that strength that was more than muscles and medals...but was the woman with the impish smile who put up with being ‘Captain Softie’ and bought an apartment because it had a room that could become her little brother’s dream, even though at the time he couldn’t stand to even look at her.

“...what time are you finished today?”

“I can leave…” Carina willed herself to remember the patients that were on the ward right now and who was on shift now and who was on tonight, before remembering it was Sunday and she had only come in originally for the meeting with Bailey and the two surgeries she had brought forward to make tomorrow’s schedule a little easier given her breakfast cooking class. “...around 4 after my second surgery.”

“No rounds?”

“No, I am only in the OR today to make tomorrow easier. This was Bailey’s favour…”

“...which is actually my favour, via Teddy.”

“Si.”

“So if you’re leaving around 4…” Maya kissed the top of Carina’s head, unable to reach anywhere else given how effectively she’d tucked herself against Maya, they already fitting together like they’d last been like this hours earlier, rather than seven weeks ago. “...then you’ll be home by 5ish…”

“What time is Mason leaving for his wall?”

“4.30…” Carina nudged Maya’s ‘squishy’ bit with her trapped elbow, not disagreeing with the sentiment but thinking that was a little harsh, making Maya chuckle again, her amusement rumbling through her chest under Carina’s ear, which was something else she’d missed these last few weeks. “...I’ll find out, but he bought some fresh coffee beans when he bought the cannoli and said he hoped you’d make him a pot when you got home.”

“Then I shall be home by five and I will make pasta for all of us to have around six and coffee for him to take with him.”

“You’re going to eat pasta at six?” asked Maya, surprised. “That’s very American of you…” she teased, knowing Carina had struggled to adjust to the earlier mealtimes most Americans were accustomed to, though Maya had long ago stopped having a stomach that was overly fussy about what time it had food - years on 24 hour shifts had cured her of any issues there.

“No, strategic…” She turned her head into Maya’s chest, finding the open neck of Maya’s shirt and kissing the skin she found, working her way along Maya’s collarbone again with lazy, open mouthed kisses. “...we are practicing for our early night in the shower at 5ish.”

“I like the way you think…” sighed Maya, using her newly permitted twisting and turning ability to get Carina’s lips away from her collarbones and up to her lips so she could kiss her back. “...I can’t wait to show you how much I love you…” she whispered in between teasing, open mouthed kisses that traced the elegant line of Carina’s neck and jaw, making Carina’s little happy sounds shift to deeper, richer groans of frustration at the teasing, frustration that Carina articulated with her fingers as they tightened their grip on Maya’s upper back, all worries about overtaxing Maya to the point of injury and pain firmly banished from Carina’s mind.

“Ma...ya…”

“Hmm?” Maya was thoroughly enjoying trailing kisses all across Carina’s jaw and neck, reacquainting herself with all those magic little spots that made Carina’s breath hitch or fingers clench around whatever bit of Maya she’d caught hold of. Running her hands down her back, Maya was finding the spots that...ah...there...that was the one that made Carina’s upper back muscles, strong from hours of surgery, twitch and quiver under her stroking hands and there...Maya stretched forwards, following Carina as her playful lick had her girlfriend’s back arch, feeling her girlfriend’s glutes clenching as Maya grazed the edge of her jaw with her teeth.

“Bac..ami…” sighed Carina, knowing what Maya was doing when she felt the vibrations of her laughter, able to picture that wonderful, impish smile that was hers, and hers alone. “Ba-ci-ami…Maya….per favore….Baciami mi amore….”

Tomorrow morning was going to be interesting...and no doubt embarrassing, but the beauty of their friends was they expected them to give as good as they got...and if that meant Carina and Maya had to live with ‘French Toast’ references and jokes about their sex life for the rest of their lives….they’d absolutely take it...but that was tomorrow.

Today?

Today was Valentine’s Day...a day for love, romance….and, for the Captain who was definitely alive, the opportunity to finally, wonderfully, celebrate that fact with her girlfriend, after waiting mostly patiently for broken things to heal...and actually have ‘Captain is alive’ sex…

  
  


…….more than once….after all, they had 48 days and five, no, maybe six...almost 49 days of no sex to catch up on….though not all in a single night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading - anything that didn't make sense, either drop me a comment here, say hi to me at the same ID on tumblr or keep reading the stories as everything will fit together...and yes, I haven't forgotten the puppies!


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